09/11/01 On the anniversary of...

Sep 11 17:01 UTC 2003

There Are No Words (K. Donohoe, 2001)

there are no words there is no song
there is no balm that can heal these wounds that will last a lifetime long
and when the stars have burned to dust
hand in hand we still will stand because we must

in one single hour in one single day
we were changed forever something taken away
and there is no fire that can melt this heavy stone
that can bring back the voices or the spirits of our own

all the brothers all the lovers all the friends that are gone
all the chairs that will be empty in the lives that will go on
can we ever forgive though we never will forget
can we believe in the milk of human goodness yet

we were forged in freedom we were born in liberty
we came here to stop the twisted arrows cast by tyranny
and we won't bow down we are strong of heart
we are a chain together that won't be pulled apart

response 2 of 56:

Sep 11 18:40 UTC 2003

Sounds like somebody is unappreciative of the genius of democracy!  :)

response 4 of 56:

Sep 11 20:15 UTC 2003

Kitty Donohoe isn't the CEO of a multinational but she is a rather good folk
singer who wrote this the day/night of the 9/11 tragedy. I happen to like it
and don't think it's corny at all. It makes me cry every time I hear it.

response 6 of 56:

Sep 11 20:28 UTC 2003

Thank you Rane, for that. It is exactly what it is. It was recorded by the
weekend of that week, and I can hear the pain whenever I listen to it. (The
recording was sold as a fundraiser for the Red Cross.)

response 8 of 56:

Sep 12 07:00 UTC 2003

My thoughts are probably a little different than maybe Joe Average so 
I don't get moved by stuff like this, really.  It's a complex issue 
that's so many shades of gray and not black and white for me.  A great 
tragedy, yes.  But I don't feel indignation or certain passionate 
patriotism-- I see warring cultures that fail to understand each 
other, that at their worst cry to their God for vengeance and blood.

I do not see this as a single event: we have had other terrorist 
attacks.  One was committed by an American-- Timothy McVeigh.

I also feel that this may be a type and a shadow of things to come-- 
or at least, this is a warning sign.

I was at a 9/11 remembrance service today for work.  I patiently 
waited through the stuff I felt was dogmatic and such, but the 
representative from the local Islamic Society seemed to have an impact 
on me, and I had a good feeling about his words.  He came to bring a 
message from his community condemning the attacks and comforting the 
victims.  Of course not all Muslims support the terrorists-- some are 
very supportive of this country.  The shadow issues still lie there... 
how do we support them, they that are in this country?  Do we still 
believe in peace?  Will we have a vengeful heart?

response 10 of 56:

Sep 12 14:05 UTC 2003

I felt more for the New York skyline losing the Twin Towers. If I had lost
someone in the attacks, I may have felt differently today

response 12 of 56:

Sep 12 14:53 UTC 2003

Heh.  

#0 reminds me of nothing so much as bad teenage angst poetry. 

response 14 of 56:

Sep 12 16:41 UTC 2003

no...just lyrical tripe.

response 16 of 56:

Sep 12 16:48 UTC 2003

/cues "Proud to be an American"

response 18 of 56:

Sep 12 17:39 UTC 2003

I'm an urban kinda girl. Maybe you give me the reason that I care about them.
They're alway changing, but you expect to see the same skyline for most of
your life, not for just a brief period. And most urban skylines change to show
progress, the addition of a skyscraper here, the pulling down of an decrepit
one there. New york's change did not mark progress. The buildings took 12
years to build, stood for 27 years and took next to no time to collapse. Maybe
that's what I'm angry about.

And the skyline doesn't look that cool anymore *shrug*

response 20 of 56:

Sep 12 17:52 UTC 2003

We differ on that. I thought they tied in everything very nicely. 

response 22 of 56:

Sep 12 18:46 UTC 2003

I've never thought the WTC towers were good looking buildings.  They
showcased the totally unimaginative, functionalist nature of
architecture at the time, as well as the arrogance of the Port
Authority.  It's tragic that they fell the way they did, but they don't
represent any kind of artistic loss.  I think it's been long enough
since the tragedy that we can start admitting to ourselves again that
they were ugly firetraps.

response 24 of 56:

Sep 12 19:30 UTC 2003

I didn't know Kitty won a Grammy. Good for her!